Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Whew. Came out a little heavy at 123,507 - but that's okay. I always lose a good amount of words when I revise, simply because I write fast and sloppy when I draft. Lots of places to cut extra words - stuff like "nodded her head" that just comes out when drafting.

I'm doing a clean up run - hopefully it will take me about two weeks or so - then off to the betas to see how much work I have coming.

Finishing a draft though? This is a third story I've drafted in full, and the feeling never gets any less awesome when you type that last word.

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

The term I like best I stole from Tad Williams. It’s particularly appropriate to my situation because I now happen to live there:

The Hawaiian Islands Method.

In this method, the writer knows certain main events or points that will occur in the story. These are the islands that show above the water. But of course the seamounts themselves extend beneath the waves down to the sea floor far below. So you have to write “under water” — through topography you can’t see from above — to link up the parts you can see. That’s the best description of my process I know.From now on, if anyone asks "panster or plotter" I'm just going to say neither. I'm an island chainer! Always have been, always will be.

About Me

I write for an employee magazine by day, and when I'm not making corporate propaganda more fun to read, I write fiction. I also play way too many video games, am obsessed with Riddick from the movie Pitch Black, and drink lots of Diet Coke with Lime.

PNWA

The Screaming Guppy

Why the Screaming Guppy?

Once upon a time, a circle of friends decided it would be fun to have nicknames, more specifically, animal nicknames. As names trickled in, there were those such as The Crafty Badger, The Wiley Minx, The Fox and The Party Weasel. Then, in the twists and turns of the maze of cruel humor, the last name dished out was The Screaming Guppy. Why? Because, at times, I tend to be loud when I get excited about something and they thought it would be funny to make me a feeder fish. (That and I once had a pet guppy that refused to die.) Unfortunately, the name as stuck and despite many appeals I still remain the only non-mammal in the group.